The Mentor · Stained Glass · Page 4

clear glass, which introduces light more powerful than that shining through the stained glass, thus destroying the effects of color in the stained glass.
The art of the stained-glass designer was based on the clear understanding of this principle at the very beginning, and has never varied from it in the hands of those who really know the essentials of stained glass making.

Technic The most notable features characteristic of the thirteenth-century stained glass may be said to be-- First: The colors are deep and strong, and have very little white glass in the window.

WINDOWS OF THE SOUTH TRANSEPT
Cathedral of Chartres, France
The workmanship of the stained-glass windows
of Chartres Cathedral is unsurpassed in France.
Many windows date from the thirteenth century.

    Second: The figures and architecture have no perspective in their representation, that is to say, they all seem to be directly in the foreground.
    Third: The drawing, definitely calculated for the distance from which it was to be seen, had just enough shading, either in cross-hatching lines or flat tint, to overcome the irradiation of the rays of light shining through the glass.
    Fourth: The outlines are almost completely expressed in the cutting of the glass, so that the black lines of the lead holding the pieces together express the forms.
    Fifth: Very wide borders of patterns cut in small pieces of glass with only a little painted design on them, surrounding the whole.